Wednesday, May 29, 2013

This documentary is very informative. If you have time, watch it. It is about genetically modified food which you may be eating and how it may harm you! It also review how big corporations are going around the system to have their product marketed without hindrance.
To find out which countries require labeling, click here. Although Malaysia is on the list, how can we be assured that there is proper enforcement?

After 30 years, the water and gas pipes are giving way. The nastiest one is behind the bathtub. And finally, I removed the useless bathtub...

Removing the bathtub is not a real big issue. But removing the over engineered support around the bathtub is big issue. After a week, I still can't remove the support for the bathtub.

... These are the tools I use. I think what I really is a jack hammer!

Hot and cold pipes feeding the shower and bathtub. Both pipes are seriously corroded.

The cold water pipe running horizontally across is the cold water pipe which is also corroded.

The corrosion for the hot water is so bad that the whole pipe is almost severed.

So, having said all these, how do you know that your gas or water pipe systems are having issues?

1. Water or gas bill is increasing every month although there is no change to usage pattern
2. Water pump is frequently switched on
3. Gas or water meters are moving even though there is no usage

How to spot where the leak is?
For gas, it is very difficult! Perhaps, during heavy rain, you may spot bubbling water. However, your nose could be your best gas detector.
For water, look out for wet spot or pool of water which suddenly appear.

To repair, perhaps it is better to get in profession and replace the whole system rather than follow what I have been doing. I found that copper piping do corrode over time. I will never use concealed piping system again. It looks good but the problem it is giving is simply not worth it!

Thursday, May 09, 2013

This article is from https://www.facebook.com/LeongDLu. If you like it, do go to her fb and share it out!Part 2. (for those who don't understand our political motivations)What do Chinese people want - politically speaking?

#1 So, Chinese people spread ourselves thin throughout the globe. Why? Besides the fact that we are always running away from each other (due to the obviously intensive competition to survive) overseas Chinese always see opportunity for a better life far FAR away from the crowd. The further the better. All we want is to quietly make a better living and put food on the table. All we look forward to is to enjoy our food, our shopping, our travels, and time with our family.

#2 However, we are a people who are NOT AFRAID to LEARN. We are taught to embrace learning at a very young age. Our parents are never afraid of our culture being lost by learning from others. We play the piano. The violin. We play chess the western way. We learn ballet. We embrace Christianity and Islam. We marry out of our race. We learn everything English, Italian, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Malaysian, etc to the extent that we can no longer read or write in Mandarin...but it is okay with our parents. People take one look at us and they STILL call us Chinese all over the world :)) - that is our curse.

#3 We LEARN because we are dying to move forward. Whatever it takes. We strive to differentiate our skills so that we can stand apart from our carbon copies. Without differentiation, we are but a mass of yellow people.

#4 We are able and willing to adapt to the local culture because we see the good in learning from others. We see the benefits of diversifying ourselves. We know we need to be different from each other to succeed. And we-don't-want-to-go-back-where-we-came-from because we have worked TOO DAMN hard to get away from it!

#5 What we want is progress and to BE ACCEPTED. We will trade our sweat, our tears, our undying efforts, our intellect, our creativity, our knowledge, our talents, our tenacity, our inclination for numbers, our ability to grow wealth, our innate instinct to survive, our diverse communications skills, our discipline, and all else that we can offer as a collective culture in exchange for ACCEPTANCE as patriotic Malaysians.

#6 All we want is a government who can accept us and 'acknowledge our contribution' to the nation. Taking over the government of the country is not in our best interest. But the harder we work in our professions, the more our government and our country gains from us (in taxes, in jobs created, in shepherding a new generation).

#7 But it pains us to see the hard earned money we made, together with our bumiputra and non-bumiputra brothers and sisters, each day flow like a leaking tap due to poor administration and corruption within the government. It grinds us to our very core when our leaders cheat their way to wealth and power on the backs of the poor and average hard working citizens.

#8 Pardon me. But we cannot stand wastage. Especially when it comes to money. Our DNA rejects it like a plague. Harness our ability to curb wastage and the whole country will gain.

#9 We offer you our best young talents (sacrificial volunteers). Our politicians. They are trained professionals who have stepped up to the task their society demands. Honestly, being a 'politician' is not a sought after profession in Chinese society. It is considered a 'thankless job'. Only the most dedicated will volunteer themselves. History has taught us that politicians don't last long. Today they are loved. Tomorrow they are out. Take a look at those in MCA. Take a look at other Chinese leaders in the world. If they don't deliver, we vote them out. Yes, we Chinese are a performance based culture. Pride for politicians comes when they are able to 'deliver' progress to the people. The people, however, are more interested in...you guessed it...making more money for a better life.

#10 What the Chinese in Malaysia want is - a better management team. We understand that a diverse country needs a diverse team of people with diverse backgrounds and diverse skills. We KNOW that progressive Malaysians from ALL races can do a better job of running this country if they are chosen base on their ability. We know that we can effectively HELP underprivileged youths and families (regardless of race) with more meaningful development programs if our funds are not siphoned away by greedy individuals. We know we can work hand in hand with our bumiputra brothers and sisters more effectively to create a better nation.

What we want LOUDLY is not to be marginalized and not be cheated at the polls.

What we want is to be called MALAYSIANS next to our brothers and sisters of this land after 56yrs of Independence and 600yrs since Puteri Hang Li Poh set roots here.

Our political motivation is to create a united Malaysia and put the right people in the right jobs, so that the rest of us can go about our own lives in peace. Honest.

Why do Chinese people work so hard to succeed in life? Here is the plain truth.

#1. There are over 1 billion of us on this earth. We are like photostat copies of each other. You get rid of one, 5 magically appears (like ballot boxes). Yes, it is scary, especially for us. We acknowledge that we are replaceable, thus we are not particularly 'special'. If you think you are smart, there are a few thousand more people smarter than you. If you think you are strong, there are a few thousand people stronger than you.

#2. We have been crawling all over this earth for far more centuries that most civilizations. Our DNA is designed for survival. We are like cockroaches. Put us anywhere on earth and we will make a colony and thrive. We survive on anything around us and make the best of it. Some keep migrating but others will stay and multiply.

#3. NOBODY cares if we succeed as individuals or not. But our families take pride in knowing we have succeeded. Yes, some will fail. We take nothing for granted. We don't expect privileges to fall on our laps. No one owes us anything.

#4. We know we have nothing to lose if we try to succeed. Thus, we have no fear trying. That is why Chinese are addicted to gambling. We thrive on taking risks. All or nothing.

#5. From young we are taught to count every cent. What we take for granted like money management, I have found out recently, is not something other cultures practice at home with their children. It surprised me. But truth is not all societies or cultures teach their young this set of skills because it is rude to them. Yes, most of us can count because we are forced to and the logic of money is pounded into us from the beginning of time (when mama tells us how much she has spent on our milk and diapers)

#6. We acknowledge life cycles. We accept that wealth in a family stays for three generations (urban myth?). Thus, every 4th generation will have to work from scratch. I.e. first generation earns the money from scratch, second generation spends the money on education, third generation gets spoiled and wastes all the inheritance. Then we are back to square one. Some families hang on to their wealth a little longer than most.

#7. It is our culture to push our next generation to do better than the last. Be smarter. Be stronger. Be faster. Be more righteous. Be more pious. Be more innovative. Be more creative. Be richer. Be everything that you can be in this lifetime. Be KIASU.

#8. Our society judges us by our achievements...and we have no choice but to do something worthwhile because Chinese New Year comes around every year and Chinese relatives have no qualms about asking you straight in your face - how much are you making? When was your last promotion? How big is your office? What car do you drive? Where do you stay? You have boyfriend? You have girlfriend? When are you getting married? When are you having children? When is the next child? When you getting a boy? Got maid yet? Does your company send you overseas? etc etc etc. It NEVER ENDS...so, we can't stop chasing the illusive train - we are damned to a materialistic society. If you are not Chinese, consider yourself lucky!

#9. We have been taught from young - if you have two hands, two feet, two eyes, and a mouth, what are you doing with it? People with no hands can do better than you (and the OKU artists do put us to shame)

#10. Ironically, the Chinese also believe in giving back to save their wretched materialistic souls. Balance is needed. The more their children succeed in life, the more our parents will give back to society (not for profit) as gratitude for the good fortune bestowed on their children. Yes. That is true. And that is why our society progresses forward in all conditions.

Nobody pities us. We accept that.
No one owes us anything. We know that.
There are too many of us for charity to reach all of us. We acknowledge that.
But that does not stop us from making a better life. This lifetime.
Opportunity is as we make of it.
So, pardon us if we feel obliged to make a better place for ourselves in this country we call home. It is in our DNA to progress forward for a more comfortable life.
But if history were to be our teacher, look around this globe.
Every country has a Chinatown (seriously) but how many government/countries are 'taken' over by the Chinese people. Don't be afraid of us overwhelming your majority, we are not looking to conquer. If we have moved away from China and Chinese governed countries, we are NOT looking for another country to administer. Our representatives are only there to look after our collective welfare. They are duty bound. We prefer to blend in and enjoy the fruits of our labor. We enjoy the company of like minded people of all races. After all, we are only passing through a small period in the history of time...so, use our skills and we can all progress forward together.

Saturday, May 04, 2013

Imagine that you earn only RM3,000 a month and your expenditure is RM4,500 a month. So, you go out and use your credit card to do your purchase every month. But at the end of the year, your debt is only 50% of your annual earning. When do you think the credit card company will sue you for bankruptcy?

On the other hand, you earned only RM3,000 a month and you saved RM1,000 a month. However, you wanted to start a business, got a loan for RM72K and earned money. That means that your debt is now 200% of your earning. Will you go bankrupt?

If you have not seen my analogy, I am comparing the debt of Malaysia against Singapore whose debt stand at 50+% and 100+% respectively.
M'sia borrow money to hand out but S'pore borrow money for capital investment. That is the major different.

The above is my simplistic comparison. It is of course a little more complicated than this.

So, don't be mislead into thinking that at 50+% debt is safe for Malaysia. It all depend on how the money is used. At the end of the day, you and me and future generations are responsible to pay back!!!

... and don't ever think that getting all the free money from the BR1M, etc is a good thing! WE, people of Malaysia, must eventually pay back!

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Welcome

Dear Visitor,

I am pleased that you have come to my blogs. Please do browse around. One of the initial objective for my blog is to report on latest event or happening. Now that many people have smart phone and can post latest news faster than anyone. So, I will not blog on event anymore. Perhaps, only selectively. I will now shift my attention to my photography. Hence, the blog objectives (not necessarily in order) are:

1.Exercise;

2. My photography;

3.Latest local news or events which is worth my time to blog;

4.Inspirational articles;

5.Humours.

I don’t normally write a lot but rather use my photos to tell the story.

I hope that your visit here has been worthwhile.

When you leave comment, please do not use Anonymous. Otherwise, I may not publish them. Thanks.

I knew that many people have used my photos without my permission and their usage may be causing misunderstanding. I don't write for anyone else and I have nothing to do with their postings. Note also that all my photos are digitally stamped with copyright information. Even if my photo has been edited, the copyright info stays.My profile

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If you have any function/event that need to be recorded digitally on still image, please contact me via e-mail tingwilliam@gmail.com or phone/WhatApps 0128782007.

My customers includes Shell, Petronas Carigali, Petronas Gas and a couple of schools.

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